Shane sent me some pics of his new bike he has just built up. It’s loaded with a bunch of Colony prototype parts. Looks like black is back? The Colony parts list reads as follows…

Frame – Cube (available September 2008)
Fork – Cube (no release date set yet)
Stem – T.L.D (available late 2008)
Seat – Cube (available September 2008)
Pedals – Fantastic Plastic (available late 2008)
Pegs – Plastic prototypes (no release date set yet)

Yo yo !!

Shane Badman just sent me an email from the UK. Read on below to see what one of our most travelled riders has been up to…

Just got back from round 2 of the Grassroots series in Southsea, UK. It was held at the infamous Southsea Skatepark, home of the King of Concrete for many years. Moving the ramps out for the day, we had the perfect marble floor underneath it for the contest. As per the UK, rain was a constant threat with the clouds finally opening up & dumping it down right before Pro finals. As people had come from far & wide in the UK & beyond, we just decided to ride in the rain instead. When all was said & done I was lucky enough to bag 2nd place – stoked!

Yo yo !!

Shane sent me an update on what he has been up too of late… read on below.

After several months of living & working in Egypt, I recently finished the shows that I was doing there & was next due in Hungary for the their annual flatland event, The Summer Gypsy Games. Along the way I decided to make a few detours & visit a few places that have always been towards the top of my list, namely Cyprus in the Mediterranean & the Pyramids.

Flying from Hurghada to Cairo early on July 13, my connecting flight to Larnaca in Cyprus didn’t leave until that evening so after a few phone calls I’d organised myself a driver to take me around for the day. It was great to see Cairo as a whole; a hugely progressive place with new buildings & construction everywhere & people rushing about their daily lives as part of any large city. The feel was very modern, but as a nation proud of its history, you often saw evidence of this through huge ancient Egyptian monuments that scatter randomly about the capital. The standout though has to be seeing the Pyramids for the first time. It is awesome to see the size and precision of them & again it makes you understand why they are referred to as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Arriving later that day in Cyprus, I was collected at the airport by my good friend & old riding buddy Manni Gaganis. With sunny weather all year round, friendly locals & perfect Mediterranean beaches, Cyprus is an amazing place to visit. He was kind enough to let me crash at his pimped out bachelor pad while we did a couple days of travelling, chilling & shooting some riding photos. Pics never give the places the credit they deserve, but shooting some flatland photos at a several thousand year old Roman amphitheatre is definitely a highlight of my riding career. Who said BMX won’t take you anywhere?

Next stop on the calendar is the Summer Gypsy Games in Hungary… stay tuned!

Yo yo !!

Just recently I decided to take a day trip to the inland city of Luxor on the bank of the Nile, about 4 hours from where I currently live in Hurghada. Through a friend of a friend, I managed to get a hook-up for a driver to take me there and back for a decent price and meant that I wouldn’t have to survive the tourist buses for the day! My plan was to visit some of the ancient temples and also the Valley of the Kings – an ancient burial site for Egyptian Kings from roughly 2,500 years ago.

Egypt has a lot of similarities with Australia: they both have perfect sunshine all year round, good beaches and same type of desert landscape that continues forever. The culture is hugely different, Egypt being one of the oldest cultures/civilizations on the planet. The Valley of the Kings is immense & visiting the tombs gives you a good idea of how together the ancient Egyptians were with the story of the dead King drawn in hieroglyphs that you can still see today. Makes you wonder if anything that humans create now will still be around in 2500 years time??

From the Valley of the Kings, I drove out to visit a few other sites including Al-Bahir Temple and the Colossi of Memnon that were built about 3400 years ago. Huge and awesome, all of it built without the technology that we use today & photos never do things like this justice. The city of Luxor is constantly busy, but without all the tourists that Hurghada has so it does feel a little more “Egyptian”. Markets and Bazaars everywhere, you can buy pretty much anything you want for very little.

The trip home was uneventful, my driver constantly beeping and yelling at other drivers in Arabic and dodging the various herds of goats that are being moved along by their Bedouin shepherds. I’m hoping to next visit the pyramids in the coming weeks so stay tuned…

Talk to you soon,

Shane.

Yo yo !!